The Prince of Rhunemoin
by Mad' Dr Hatter
Summary: So. I have recently noticed that sir Leon never seems to be known in as much detailas the other knights. So this is my story about Leons troubled childhood. Will also have a few twists in it. I just wasted to d something other than revision for a while and this is fun so far so i will be doing more. this is my first fic, and I dont know what the ratings.
1. Chapter 1

Merlin watched helplessly as a bandit snuck up on a preoccupied Arthur. Merlin was starting to worry about his friend and king as he continued to not notice the encroaching bandit. He was also wondering if now was when he would have to save Arthur using more blatant magic than usual.

But then the young warlock remembered one little fact that had kept him away from a burning pile of wood for over three years. Arthur was one of the most unobservant entities in all of the great land of Albion. So his first port of call was to do his usual bandit stopping tactic. He dropped a very sturdy branch on the bandits that Arthur was fighting, promptly killing them. Merlin then turned his attention to the bandit that was about to behead the king of Camelot.

"You stupidly unobservant clot pole", merlin muttered. Without thinking, merlin sprung at the surprised bandit, pulling out his sword during the short sprint to intercept him. Seeing Merlin approach, the bandit changed the direction that his sword was facing and faced down a steely faced Merlin. The bandit took the first swing which merlin miraculously dodged and slashed at the bandits exposed flank. The bandit brought his sword to intercept Merlin's. With a shower of sparks, the blades collided in mid-air.

"Oh dear god, I'm going to die." thought Merlin. Pushing his sword away from his body, he jolted the bandit back a pace, giving Merlin time to ready his sword in preparation of another attack from the small bandit. It came as a swing directly for his head. Merlin parried and swung his own sword at his opponent's feet. When his sword met no resistance, Merlin was very surprised. He looked down for a split second as the blade impaled a very innocent root. Without time to yank it out he let go of the handle and danced away from a slash to his ribs. By now the rest of the camp was silent, the rest of the bandits either dead or dying in pile of two or three around shocked knights of Camelot. Meanwhile merlin had scrambled backwards and picked up the first vaguely offensive thing that he could find. As he brought it into his line of sight he noticed it was a saucepan. Groaning to nobody in particular he threw it over hand, hitting the laughing bandit in the chest causing him to stumble back a bit. This managed to buy the sorcerer a few seconds to find a proper weapon. He heard a savage war cry as his hand grabbed the guilded hilt of one of the fallen bandits' swords. Bringing it up just in time to catch a swing from the now furious bandit. Spinning out of the block he slashed the blade across the torso of the bandit, forcing him into the ground. With a final flourish so he was standing over the bandit, he brought down the blade onto the bandits exposed neck. It was only then that merlin noticed the unusual design of the sword. It was a single handed sword with an abnormally thin double edged blade. What made it unusual was the design of the blade. It's cross guard and handle was a single piece of exquisite metal work in the shape of a dragon with its wings outstretched. The dragons head was resting on the blade just above the outstretched wings that made up the cross guard. The rest of the dragon was melded together into the handle which seemed to fit perfectly into Merlin's hand. The pommel was a gem about the size of a walnut. The gem was pitch black.

"_Mer_lin!" Arthur exclaimed after a while, causing Merlin to stop admiring the sword and remember what he had just done.

"Umm.. Yeah?" merlin asked a very amazed looking Arthur.

"What do you mean 'ummm yeah?'", Arthur asked incredulously. "You just saved my life!"

_"Yeah. Again" _merlin thought to himself. "What that? That was nothing." Realisation hitting him as to what he had just done. He had duelled with somebody who was trying to kill him, and won. He had used a sword properly. This was something that he couldn't even do in the relative safety of the training grounds back at Camelot.

"You hear that Gwaine? Apparently it was nothing." Arthur stated sarcastically, causing sir Gwaine to smile. "So merlin if it was nothing then I won't need to give you any reward will I?"

"Well now that you put it that way '_sire_'" merlin countered quickly. This caused a hearty laugh from the rest of the knights that were on their way back to Camelot with the dynamic duo. Merlin had completely forgotten about the rest of the knights. Merlin's cheeks burned bright red when he remembered there presence.

"Merlin?" sir Leon asked. "May I have a look at that sword that you were using?"

Merlin looked down at his hand that was, to his surprise, still wrapped around the hilt of the amazing sword. "Yeah sure. Just don't break it." Only half joking.

"Don't worry merlin. I doubt I will be able to break it with anything that I possess." The bearded knight answered seriously.

This answer surprised everyone in the campsite. "Leon what do you mean?" Arthur questioned.

"Well sire. This is a blade forged by the revered noble house of Rhunemoin." This caused a few of the older knights to step away from the blade and hands to go to swords. This caused Arthur to look at it more cautiously.

"Please. Go on."

"Sire. In the times before the Great purge they were one of the strongest and well respected houses of all of Albion. And they were also known as some of the greatest forgers of weapons. The weapons of the Rhunemoin forges were said to be able to kill even those that are already dead. They were said to be forged with metals from the center of hell sire." Leon stated in a calm voice.

"Leon, how can you be so calm about that?" merlin asked, looking at the sword with wide eyes.

"Well I know for a fact that this particular sword is made of steel and a metal called stygian iron." Everybody let out breaths they didn't know they had held in.

"Stygian iron?" Gwaine asked.

Leon explained, "Stygian iron is a form of iron that was fused with magic during its forging to give it properties that were desirable in a war. That blade that merlin is holding will never dull or rust. Also I can say that it was made for the prince of Rhunemoin along with another identical sword with a pure white gem stone."

"Leon," the fair haired king said, "did you just, without any shuddering or hesitation, say that that sword was made with magic.

"no sire. What I said is that it the iron is fused with magic. There is a slight difference." The knight explained tiredly. To merlin it seemed that leon was tired of telling that story, even though it was the first time he had heard sir Leon talk of stygian iron or Rhunemoin.

"Wait," Elyan piped in, "were? What happened to them?"

"During the _Great_ purge" Merlin noticed an unusual amount of venom in his voice. It didn't seem to be missed by the rest of the party either, "the house of Rhunemoin was destroyed by Uther because some of the Rhunemoinain royal family were known to have magic. He gave the people one chance to give up their leaders before he launched his assault on the castle of Rengath. When they refused he began to make his way to the keep, forcing his army to slaughter any that got in their way. Rhunemoin had always been a peaceful nation and had always been strong allies with Camelot. For a while camelots weapons were supplied by the forges at Rengath." During this time, the usually gentle knight had unconsciously clenched his fists. "He swept through the city at the front of his army killing any that got in his way, be they; men, women or children. He was blinded by his hate of magic that he didn't see what he was doing. When his rage subsided after the battle and he had realised what he had done, he gathered his troops and swore them never to speak of the assault of Rengath on punishment of death. They were to tell all who asked what happened that the city was in ruin when they arrived." At this Leon suddenly seemed to notice that his hands were clenched and he gave a little cough to try and excuse his actions.

"Leon. You never did tell me where you grew up." Merlin stated.

"_Mer_lin!" Arthur exclaimed. "This is hardly the time." Merlin, ignoring the king as usual, asked Leon, "Where did you grow up Leon?"

Leon's reply stunned the whole of the camp into silence. "I was born in the great city of Rengath and I grew up as a refugee, and came to Camelot at the age of three and was adopted by a noble family."


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello peeps!**

**I have updated again :)  
dont get used to 1 update a day, it wont always happen  
thanks to reveiwees :)  
FreakingZebra: Glad you like it :) i have never really seen any other stories of Leons past and it doesnt really come up in the tv show. It was well written? thanks. Im never really very good at writing so thats good to hear**

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The camp was still silent as everybody tried to proses what they had just heard. Sir Leon was from a destroyed kingdom where magic was not only legal, but was practiced by the rulers.

"Well. That was unexpected." Merlin said breaking the silence finally.

"_Mer_lin!" Arthur all but shouted. "I told you know was not the time!"  
"Does this mean you knew?" Gwaine inquired. All of the other knights made questioning noises and inquiries to each other.

"EVERYBODY!" the king shouted, instantly silencing everybody. "This can wait until we get back to Camelot."

"Agreed sire" the now very quiet knight said.

And without so much as a second glance, the knights and merlin dismantled the camp, loaded the horses and were on their way back to Camelot. They made swift progress over the rough ground, and were back at the gates of Camelot by nightfall.

"We will rest for tonight as it is already late, so we will gather in the council chambers after breakfast." As the knights started to filter out, Arthur called merlin back.

"Now where do you think you're going?" Arthur asked the younger man.

"I'm going to bed sire." Merlin answered innocently.

"Oh no you're not. My armour needs polishing and my clothes need washing."

At that, merlin stalked after the king in a strop. When they reached the kings chambers and merlin had gathered up the dirty clothes of the floor, merlin helped Arthur out of his armour and dropped it off at his chambers. Whilst on his way to wash Arthurs disgusting excuses for clothes he literally bumped into Gwen. "Gwe.. sorry. Your highness." Merlin said cheekily.

"Merlin. You know you can always call me Gwen. I was your friend before I was the queen." This was now an almost daily occurrence, but by now Gwen was starting to get annoyed by it. "I can see that you haven't been given the day off like the rest of the knights." Gwen added disapprovingly.

"He doesn't like to admit it but he can't live without me."

"Oh is that right merlin?" the kings voice erupted from behind of the now extremely startled servant.

"Yes it is _sire_." The servant replied hesitantly. "If you didn't have me, then who would polish your armour?"  
"Hmmm. Let me think. A half decent servant?" Merlin imitated a shocked look.

"Your words hurt sire." Merlin stated in a unimpressed tone.

"Nawwww. Did Merlin's sensitive heart get hurt by the big, mean king?" Gwaine said whilst appearing behind Gwen, causing merlin to jump. Yet again

"What is wrong with you knights?" Merlin suddenly shouted. "You keep popping up all over this castle without so much as an announcement that you are approaching?"

Everybody looked around at merlin shocked. That was until they saw his cheeky smile creeping through the carefully crafted annoyed face.

"_Mer_lin!" everybody but Gwen shouted, causing merlin to scamper away around the corner.

"I swear he is going to really offend somebody doing that someday." Gwen muttered to herself.

As soon as Leon was dismissed by Arthur with the rest of the knights he ran to his quarters. It was unlike him to get so emotional whilst talking about his past, but that sword had set his mind running. Why had a bandit had it in the first place? Why did merlin look so natural with it? And more importantly, where was it previous owner? Whilst sitting on his bed, he looked at the cupboard. Inside was the sole memoire he had of his family and the once great kingdom of Rhunemoin. He stood up and walked over to the plain furniture. Opening the door, he took out a long, thin object that was covered in a piece of fabric. Tearing away the fabric, he swept his hand along the intricate shaft of an exquisite spear. The shaft was engraved with his father's name in sweeping, curved script. _Prince Rasha of Rhunemoin. _The spear head was in the shape of a singular flame. The different colours of the flame were highlighted in gold and silver. It was made of the same metal that the sword that merlin had used to successfully kill a bandit. His jumped, almost spearing the ceiling above his head in the presses.

"Gwaine. What are you doing here?" the bearded knight asked his younger counterpart.

"I was coming to see if you were alright." Gwaine answered in a worried voice.

"Yes Gwaine I am fine. I just didn't expect to see that particular sword again."

Gwaine looked puzzled at this "Which sword? The one the Arthur has let merlin keep after saving his life?" Leon looked up frantically at the last sentence.

"He did what?!"

Gwaine looked taken aback by the calm knight's outburst. "Arthur let Merlin keep the magical sword. Is that a problem?"

Leon looked at the younger knight and realised that he wouldn't know why he had reacted so badly to this news. "N-no. Not at all"

"Anyway. You seem to have enough weapons as it is." Gwaine said light-heartedly, motioning his head towards the exquisite spear in Leon's still gloved hand.

"Oh." He had completely forgotten about his father's spear. "Yes. It is something very special to me."

And with that he breezed past the startled young knight and out into the courtyard.

The next morning, when everybody was gathered in the council chambers, Leon returned to his room to change out of his armour. He didn't want the other knights to know he hadn't been to bed. In truth he had spent the most of the night wandering around Camelot. He had only realised how long it had been, when he heard the people of the town fetching water. Whilst he was taking off his chainmail, there was a quiet knock at the door.

"Come in" Leon yelled as his door opened. It was a servant sent by Arthur to inquire about Sir Leon's presence.

"Tell the king I will be right with him." Leon then promptly changed his shirt and grabbed a bread roll off of his breakfast tray.

"Leon," Arthur exclaimed warmly as the elder knight entered the council chambers. "I trust you are well rested?"

"Yes sire." Leon lied smoothly.

"Good." The young king smiled. "Now. We must, I fear, have an explanation of this recent enlightenment of your heritage." The king seemed to be very calm to Leon as he uncomfortably stood facing the rest of the knights.

"If we must." He started. "as I told you yesterday, I am a child of Rhunemoin. I was smuggled out by my mother at the start of the siege using a method similar to the way Arthur broke the knights out of Camelot when Morgana took over. We then left with around 300 other refugees and made for our last remaining allies. The druids." Every eyebrow in the room was raised at this. (Apart from one of Gaius's) "But before we got there we were ambushed by bandits. I was separated from the rest of the group. I wandered around in the forest for a few days before I was found by a noble family. I was taken in and adopted as one of their children."

The king looked up at sir Leon thoughtfully. "So what were you in Rhunemoin?"

"I beg your pardon sire?" Leon asked a bit taken aback

"What was your status in Rhunemoin?"

The knight looked around at the expectant faces of the rest of the knights, squirming slightly under their stare.

"I was the grandson of the king sire." The knight said bluntly whilst looking down.


	3. Chapter 3

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Arthur was the person who broke the silence. Again. "You are the king of Rhunemoin grandson? Doesn't that make you part of the royal family?" He asked in an incredulous voice.

"Technically yes sire…"

"Leon, in light of recent revelations, you don't need to call me sire." The astonished king stated. Merlin wondered to himself, why Sir Leon had decided to become a protector of the kingdom and king that had brought about the end of his family and life in Rhunemoin.

"Sire, it would help me deal with things if I could call you by your rightful title." Leon said tightly.

"If you wish to call me sire then I will respect your wishes." The startled king spoke in a diplomatic tone. "Please continue."

The knights all looked back at the knight with new found respect but also with a bit of apprehension.

"Very well sire. I was born in the city of Rengath to Prince Rasha and his wife, lady Irena of Enacagh. She was the daughter of the governor of Enacagh, so was not of noble birth. But my grandfather approved of the marriage and promised that she would be treated like a queen. Enacagh was the heart of our weapon exporting industry and our first line of defence from attack. When that fell my grandfather knew that there was no hope of a diplomatic resolution. So he started to get citizens out of the city quietly. He couldn't even let the people know what he was doing as there may have been spies." Tears were streaming down the bearded knights face as he talked of his birthplace.

"I never knew my father as the day I was born, the city came under attack. I was a refugee for 6 years. During those 6 years, we picked up another 500 refugees in that time. We originally planned on returning to Rengath but bandits had made their camp in the city by then and had sold or claimed most of the riches and weapons. I believe that it was a group of those bandits that attacked us yesterday."

Arthur looked around thoughtfully. "That may explain why one of them had a Rhunemoinain blade. Do you know who it belonged to?" Arthur asked softly.

"I believe it to have been one of my uncle's blades. My grandfather had them made for him on his 21st birthday as a gift." Leon answered.

Something suddenly dawned on merlin. "Leon? If you were born on the day of the attack then how do you know so much about what happened?" he asked.

The same thought dawned on Sir Leon. "I-I don't know. The knowledge is just sort of there. I can't explain it. It's like it was put there by somebody." This gained a few uncomfortable looks from various knights.

Arthur, without thinking, asked, "Do you think it may have been planted there by sorcery?"

Leon visibly stiffened. "I do not believe that these _memories _have been fabricated by a sorcerer!" he shouted. With that he stormed out of the council chamber and away in the direction of the stables. Before Arthur could even say anything, Merlin pursued the distressed knight and followed him out of the city.

"Leon wait!" merlin shouted after the knight. The knight either didn't hear or chose to ignore the servant. "Leon!" merlin tried again. Sir Leon suddenly jerked his horse to a stop almost causing merlin to plough into the back of the suddenly stationary horse.

"What do you want merlin?" the distraught knight asked through his tears.

"I thought you may want your uncle's sword back?" The understanding in Merlin's voice was almost scary.

"Merlin I don't even know who my uncles was, let alone why I know so much about him. So no. I don't want his sword back. You may keep it." If the knight's words shocked merlin, he didn't show it.

"If you are ok with it then I shall wield it with pride." The servant said valiantly.

"Merlin is that all you wanted?" Leon asked quietly.

Now it was the servants turn to be quiet. "No. Not exactly." The servant looked visibly sick.

"You said that some of the Rhunemoin royal family practiced magic. I was wondering.."

"You were wondering if I have magic?" the knight finished.

"Well that wasn't my original question, no." merlin admitted. "I was wondering if you have ever heard of a druid called Emrys."

The name rang a bell in Leon's head. Emrys? Why was it so familiar? "It seems familiar," the knight admitted, "Was it from a legend?" the serving boys face lightened a little at that.

"Well, yes. Yes it is. Do you know what the legend is?" Merlin's eyes danced in the light.

"I believe it was about the most powerful sorcerer ever to exist, but that is all I can remember." The knight was now wondering why merlin had brought it up.

Merlin laughed a bit at that bit. "Most powerful. Yeah right. Not yet at least."

"Merlin? What do you mean not yet? Do you know Emrys?" the knight asked suspiciously.

"Well that's one way of putting it I suppose." The young man laughed, whole heartedly.

"Merlin. What aren't you telling me?" Leon was starting to suspect that merlin knew more than he was letting on.

"Well you will not believe me if I tell you." Merlin smirked.

Leon was starting to piece things together now. Was merlin, the servant that was standing in front of him, saying that he not only had magic but was also Emrys. The most powerful sorcerer ever to exist? "Merlin?" the, by now, very confused knight started.

"Tídrénas!" the young warlock shouted. Leon looked up as storm clouds appeared out of nowhere. The dumbfounded knight looked at merlin with a look of horror. Merlin's face fell as he saw Leon's look of horror

"You're a warlock!" Leon shouted unexpectantly.

"Yes I.. Wait. Did you say Warlock?" Merlin spluttered the last part. Had somebody actually got it right first time? Usually people think he's a sorcerer. "Yes. Yes I'm a warlock. How.." Before merlin could finish, the knight of Camelot put out his hand in front of him and a log at Merlin's feet shot into the air in front of them both. Merlin took a step back. "You have magic! Wow. That was strange. I'm usually the one hearing that."


	4. Chapter 4

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"Leon wait!" merlin shouted after the knight. The knight either didn't hear or chose to ignore the servant. "Leon!" merlin tried again. Sir Leon suddenly jerked his horse to a stop almost causing merlin to plough into the back of the suddenly stationary horse.

"What do you want merlin?" the distraught knight asked through his tears.

"I thought you may want your uncle's sword back?" The understanding in Merlin's voice was almost scary.

"Merlin I don't even know who my uncles was, let alone why I know so much about him. So no. I don't want his sword back. You may keep it." If the knight's words shocked merlin, he didn't show it.

"If you are ok with it then I shall wield it with pride." The servant said valiantly.

"Merlin is that all you wanted?" Leon asked quietly.

Now it was the servants turn to be quiet. "No. Not exactly." The servant looked visibly sick.

"You said that some of the Rhunemoin royal family practiced magic. I was wondering.."

"You were wondering if I have magic?" the knight finished.

"Well that wasn't my original question, no." merlin admitted. "I was wondering if you have ever heard of a druid called Emrys."

The name rang a bell in Leon's head. Emrys? Why was it so familiar? "It seems familiar," the knight admitted, "Was it from a legend?" the serving boys face lightened a little at that.

"Well, yes. Yes it is. Do you know what the legend is?" Merlin's eyes danced in the light.

"I believe it was about the most powerful sorcerer ever to exist, but that is all I can remember." The knight was now wondering why merlin had brought it up.

Merlin laughed a bit at that bit. "Most powerful. Yeah right. Not yet at least."

"Merlin? What do you mean not yet? Do you know Emrys?" the knight asked suspiciously.

"Well that's one way of putting it I suppose." The young man laughed, whole heartedly.

"Merlin. What aren't you telling me?" Leon was starting to suspect that merlin knew more than he was letting on.

"Well you will not believe me if I tell you." Merlin smirked.

Leon was starting to piece things together now. Was merlin, the servant that was standing in front of him, saying that he not only had magic but was also Emrys. The most powerful sorcerer ever to exist? "Merlin?" the, by now, very confused knight started.

"Tídrénas!" the young warlock shouted. Leon looked up as storm clouds appeared out of nowhere. The dumbfounded knight looked at merlin with a look of horror. Merlin's face fell as he saw Leon's look of horror.

"You're a warlock!" Leon shouted unexpectantly.

"Yes I.. Wait. Did you say Warlock?" Merlin spluttered the last part. Had somebody actually got it right first time? Usually people think he's a sorcerer. "Yes. Yes I'm a warlock. How.." Before merlin could finish, the knight of Camelot put out his hand in front of him and a log at Merlin's feet shot into the air in front of them both. Merlin took a step back. "You have magic! Wow. That was strange. I'm usually the one hearing that."

Arthur was beginning to worry about his servant and faithful knight, Leon. They had been gone for over an hour now. As soon as merlin had left, the king had dismissed the rest of the knights. He had always known that the bearded knight had a strange view on magic but to fly off the handle about a basic question. It was not normal. Leon had always been a calm man, even in the face of danger he was unnervingly calm. So why would he feel so strongly about an enchantment being put on him. It seemed to almost a daily occurrence in Camelot.

"Sire." Gwaine asked from near the door.

"Yes Gwaine. What is it?" the king asked whilst rubbing his face.

"I was going to volunteer to go on a search party for Leon and Merlin." The knight said bluntly.

The king secretly wondered why he hadn't thought about that already. _Might be because you trust Merlin. _The small voice said in the back of his head. Gwaine mistook his silence as negative, so shouted "Well if you won't let me then I'm sorry but I'm going to have do disobey your orders!"

"No. I give you permission to go. I was just wondering why I hadn't thought about that before." The king admitted to the fair haired knight.

"Right. I'll get the men ready." Gwaine said setting off in the direction of the training field.

As merlin watched Leon look around sheepishly, he couldn't help but wonder the same thing he wondered in the council chambers. "Why did you become a knight of Camelot Leon?" merlin questioned.

"What do you mean Merl…Emrys?" merlin recoiled slightly at the open use of his true name.

"Well. Your grandfather's kingdom was destroyed by the king of Camelot. And you chose to become a protector of his kingdom. I don't understand that." Merlin stated with a mild tone of questioning in his voice.

"Well I could ask you the same thing merlin." Leon replied knowingly. "You not only use magic in a kingdom that has outlawed it, but uses it to protect people of the city. At least I hope you do." The now cautious knight asked hesitantly.

"Of course I do Leon. Would I have stayed around so long if I had planned to bring down Camelot?" merlin rhetorically asked. "if I was trying to make harm come to any of the peoples of Camelot, then why would I always be saving Arthurs sorry behind?" the knight laughed at this.

Leon was curious now. "So you are Emrys? But you're so young. I expected the mighty Emrys to be an old man. A bit like an old man I met once." Merlin smiled at this.

"Was his name Dragoon the Great by any chance?" a small smile appeared.

"How do you know that?" Leon almost shouted in his surprise.

Merlin's small grin turned into a full blown cheesy grin. "Let's just say that we are very well acquainted," Merlin retorted.

"It was you wasn't it?" Leon almost laughed. "How did you do it?" Merlin was amazed at the knight's observation skills.

"What was it that made you realise it was me?" Merlin asked, genuinely interested.  
"There was something in your eyes. They seemed younger than the rest of you." Leon admitted truthfully.

"Well now I know where to work on my skills." The young warlock muttered to himself.

Leon was going to ask merlin if he could teach him some spells but all of a sudden, about 30 bandits charged into the clearing that the two warlocks were occupying.

Now that Merlin wasn't having to hide his magic from the knight, his first port of call was to make the storm cloud that was still above him, erupt with lightning with a simple wave of his hand. At least 10 of the oncoming bandits fell to the floor, killed instantly by the waves of lightning coursing through their bodies. As some of the bandits faltered at seeing so many of their comrades die instantaneously, shouted some of the most powerful words that the knight standing just behind him had ever heard.

"O drakon, e male so ftengometta tesd'hup'anankes!" Merlin bellowed up at the skies.

Whilst Merlin was doing that Leon watched in horror as a bandit charged at the preoccupied merlin. Without thinking he yelled the only spell he could remember. Pointing at the bandit in question he shouted "Forbearnan!"

Merlin looked at the now burning bandit with a mixture of hate and pity. Turning back to the other bandits, he shouted at them. "I will warn you only once. I am a warlock. I have magic and I can kill you all without so much as a thought. I am the last dragonlord and if you want to see why I am called a dragonlord then look up. I have no doubt that you heard this mighty creature was dead. Well you were wrong. If you value your lives then you will turn around and run to whatever holes you despicable creatures have crawled out of. So. If any of you wish to see a new day dawning, the I suggest you move right now." As merlin finished his speech, a shadow passed over the clearing. The bandits all looked up in terror as the gigantic dragon landed behind the steely faced Merlin. All of the remaining bandits stampeded away from the dragonlord and dragon.

"Merlin. Why have you summoned me?" the dragon asked wearily.

"I need to tell you that Sir Leon has magic." Merlin bluntly replied to the dragon. "Why did you not tell me?"

"Some things need to be discovered rather than told young Emrys. Killgarah replied cryptically.

"I must be going now as I feel there are more things that you will need to explain to other people soon" the great beast added before leaping away.

"Wait!" merlin shouted as Killgarah laughed and flew away.

Leon watched as the beast flew away. Leon now looked at the frustrated warlock with a new found respect.

"He always does that." Merlin growled to no-one in particular.

"Does what merlin?" the startled knight asked.

"Leave you with more questions then you started with." Merlin growled as a response.

Leon looked at the sky to try and find the dragon or any trace of it. He would have never guessed that Merlin possessed such a magnificent power.

"Yes. It does leave you with more questions then you started with doesn't it?" the voice of Gwaine rang through the clearing.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello guys.**

**Sorry for the Late update. Stuff happens.**

**This is the new chapter. Enjoy.**

As Gwaine sped through the forest surrounding the citadel, he couldn't help but wonder why it was getting so dark. It was just about lunch time and it seemed abnormally dark. A little way into the forest he noticed that two horses were racing away from a clearing up ahead. Gwaine cautiously got off his horse and stalked up to the clearing. He got to the clearing just as merlin was finishing his speech and sending the bandits running. That when Gwaine saw it. There was a dragon behind Merlin and Leon in the clearing. Gwaine was about to shout a warning to the servant and knight, but the strangest thing happened. Merlin actually _talked_ to the beast. Gwaine couldn't make out many of the words but it sounded like Merlin was informing the dragon something.

"I need….Sir Leon….magic" Was merlin saying that the most faithful of all the knights, had _magic_! Well. It's sort of understandable if you think about it. He always seemed to be more constrained whenever the king was talking about magic. Not the mention that he had been saved, with magic, by the druids. That was when Gwaine heard those golden words uttered by Merlin.

"Leave you with more questions then you started with." It was a golden opportunity to reveal himself and he wasn't going to miss it.

"Yes. It does leave you with more questions then you started with doesn't it?" Gwaine was smiling to himself on the inside as the two men spun round in a panic. Upon seeing a stern faced Gwaine, Merlin looked at Gwaine in despair.

"Gwaine. I can explain." Merlin started but soon stop again as the fair haired knight raised his hand to silence him.

"Don't worry Merlin. I've known for a while." Gwaine stated bluntly. Merlin looked at the knight in a mixture of horror and amazement. Gwaine had known about his powers.

"When did you find out?" Merlin spluttered out. Gwaine then broke into a grin.

"Oh I've known for a while Merlin." The young warlocks face fell completely. Gwaine couldn't help but laugh at this. "I'm joking Merlin. But I would have thought you could trust me. After all I wasn't born in Camelot; I don't have the same views as the rest of the knights." Merlin visibly relaxed at this.

"One thing I don't understand. How did you manage to control that beast?" Gwaine asked.

"It is a dragon and I am a dragonlord." Merlin bluntly replied. Gwaine looked at Leon questioning but all the older knight could do was shrug. Gwaine was about to ask what a dragonlord was, but just as he was about to talk a scream erupted from the forest. Before either of the knights could react, merlin had charged towards the noise.

As merlin raced through the forest towards the sound, he tried to think of why it had affected him so much. Was it because it was the voice of a girl? Was it because he had sent the bandits back that was? He didn't know. All he knew was that he had to try and save whomever it was that was screaming. Glancing around, he noticed that there was nobody in sight at all. Another scream pierced the air. Using an unworded spell, he used his magic to follow the noise to its source. What he saw shocked him to his core. A young woman was tied up against a tree with, what seemed to be, some of the bandits he had scared away earlier going through her belongings. Breaking the spell, he charged towards the tree that the woman was tied up to. As he charged into the camp the Mercenaries, as they were, looked up quickly and, upon seeing the growl emanating from Merlin's face, promptly laughed. Obviously they were not with the bandits that he had scared away. Merlin silently groaned to himself. This would mean that he would have to work harder to scare them off. They seemed to be better prepared than the bandits had been. Before any of them could draw their swords, merlin threw out his hands. Two of the mercenaries were thrown into trees. The other mercenaries looked surprised at this display of power, but didn't falter in their advance. Drawing the sword that Leon had let him keep, he engaged the closest mercenary. Ducking under his swing, Merlin brought his sword around, slicing the back of the man's knee, which forced him to cry in pain and fall to the ground. Without looking back the young warlock charged at the second mercenary, who looked slightly scared at Merlin's apparent confidence with a sword. When the man swung for Merlin's head, he dexterously hit the side of the man's sword, forcing it to miss him by a hairs breadth. Merlin quickly countered with a flick of his hand, causing the man to fly into a tree and break his neck. Merlin now faced down the last mercenary, which happened to be the youngest of the group. Merlin looked directly into the young man's eyes. He can't have been more then 16.

"Run" Merlin growled to the boy, which caused him to turn tail and scamper away. That's when Merlin looked back at the young woman. She was around 20 years old, with brown hair that was knotted and matted. If it was washed then he guessed it would reach down to her mid back. She was quite small and very dirty. But when she looked up at him with her big, intelligent brown eyes, he saw that she had a determined glint in her eyes. He had only ever seen that sort of determination from one person before. And that was Arthur.

"W-who are you?" the young woman asked timidly. This caused merlin to snap back to reality.

"I don't mean you any harm. I am Merlin. I'm King Arthur's man servant." Merlin replied softly.

"You work for King Arthur?" the woman asked incredulously. "Does he know of your magic?" she asked innocently.

"Oh. You saw that?" Merlin hesitantly asked. The woman laughed at this. It was a sweet sound but was tinged with sadness.

"Yes. But do not worry. You saved me from those despicable men." The young woman informed him like it made any difference. Merlin was surprised at this. Usually whenever he revealed his magic to people they were scared of him. This time he had not only revealed it, but he had killed three men using magic. Upon seeing Merlin's relieved face she let out another peel of laughter. Merlin then seemed to remember something. As he jumped forward to untie her a sword scratched along his back. Falling with a scream from both him and the woman merlin heard the unmistakeable sound of a sword plunging through chainmail. "_That's strange" _he thought. "_I don't remember putting chainmail on" _

"Merlin. Are you ok?" Heard a relieved merlin. It was Gwaine.

"Yes I'm fine Gwaine. Just help me up." Merlin replied. As he got up, he walked over to the woman. Whilst untying her, he seemed to stiffen.

"I'm so sorry. I forgot to ask you your name." upon finishing his sentence, he looked down bashfully.

"Do you know what would be more helpful right now?" Gwaine whispered into his ear. "Help her up you moron." Merlin blushed at this. He really was forgetting a lot. Offering the woman his hand, he pulled her to her feet. With that he asked. "So what is your name?"

"My name is Annya. And I was on my way to Camelot to beg for refuge." Annya stated remorsefully.

"Well we should probably escort you to Camelot then." The unusually quiet Gwaine stated with none of his usual flirt. "Our horses are a little way back."

"Thank you." Annya said politely to Gwaine, but still managing to never take her eyes of Merlin in the process. At this point merlin dropped out of consciousness.


	6. Chapter 6

**Well hello again people. I would appoligise for my latenes. But you know what? I've got better things to do. Mainly sleeping and reading. But hay-ho. Newest chapter is up. Enjoy. **

"Gaius!" Gwaine shouted as he carried Merlin through the physicians door "Merlin's hurt" As soon as the old physician heard this, he swept everything off the table.

"What happened?" Gaius asked worriedly.

"We were attacked in the woods. Merlin fought them all off but he got hurt in the process. A bandit cut him across the back. He was fine for a while, but then he just collapsed."

During Gwaines speech, Annya had stayed out of sight by the door frame. She still hadn't really taken her eyes off the serving boy, who had saved her life.

"And who might this be?" Gaius asked as Merlin was laid on his front on the table. It took them all a little while to realise that the physician was talking to Annya.

"Oh. I'm Annya. This serving boy saved my life and I'm the reason that he got hurt. My name is Annya. I have come to Camelot to seek refuge." all of this was said in less than 5 seconds.

"Oh." was all Gaius could say. Seeming to remember the young boy on his table, he jumped into action. Upon seeing the wound he visibly relaxed. When the knights saw this they also relaxed.

"What's wrong with him Gaius?" Leon asked.

"The blade was poisoned." the knights stiffened at this news.

"If its poisoned then why are you relieved?" Leon all but shouted.

"Because it's a very weak poison. It should wear off within the next few hours. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to dress his wound. Take Lady Annya to a room."

"It's just Annya." the woman replied.

As soon as Arthur heard that Merlin was back, and had saved someone's life, he was about to go and see him. Then Sir Leon walked through the doors with someone.

"Leon." the young king sighed with relief.

"Who is this?" Arthur asked as he noticed Annya.

"I am the princess Annya of Fairnait. I have come to Camelot to seek refuge. My fathers kingdom had always been a poor one. We didn't have much of an army. So when Morganas men attacked, they overwhelmed the army. The city fell. Only me and two of the younger knights escaped." When Arthur saw tears in the young womans eyes, he held up his hand to stop her.

"You have no need to explain. You may stay for as long as you wish." Arthur explained at her questioning look. this brought a releived look to the womans face.

"Thank you so much sire." Annya said whilst bowing.

"Think nothing of it. Seen as my man-servant saved you, I will ask him to tend to you for a while until we can get you your own servant." Arthur proclaimed. Annya looked slightly taken back by this.

"Sire, I have never had a servant before." Annya stated with wide eyes. The king smiled at this.

"Then it's high time you had one." Was all Arthur said to that.

The first thing Merlin noticed when he woke up was that his nose really hurt. Why was he lying on his face? More to the point, why was he lying down in the first place. He had to get Annya back to Camelot. Wait. What was that smell? It smells like Gauis' room. Lifting up his head he noticed. It was Gauis' room. How had he got here? As he went to push himself up, he felt a slight pain in his back.

"Merlin. You're awake." Gaius exclaimed. Merlin moaned sleepely as Gaius checked his wound.

"What am I doing here?" Merlin muttered.

Gaius sighed. Merlin was forever getting himself hurt in some way or another.

"You got hurt again Merlin." The voice of Gwaine sounded from behind him. "I've got somebody here that would like to meet you properly." Whilst Gwaine was saying this, Gaius helped merlin into a sitting position on the table. Merlin looked at the woman he had saved in the forest. She was around 20, with long brown hair, that was now washed and combed so it reached, as he noticed now, just beyond her shoulders. She looked quite thin and short, around 5 foot, 3 inches. She was wearing a simple brown dress and a sturdy pair of worn walking boots. A bit like Merlins.

"Hello." the woman said. "How are you feeling?"

"Shouldnt I be asking you that?" Merlin asked. This caused Annya to laugh.

"Probably. But you are the one that is on the physicians table." She countered playfully. Gwaine raised his eyes at this.

"Ok. Good point." Merlin said cheerily. "So your name is Annya, right? As you have probably been told, I am king Arthurs man servant." Mrlin gave a slight bow, which made Annya blush slightly.

"Actually, I thought that your name was Merlin." Annya rplied sweetly. Merlin beamed at this.

"Yes. My name is Merlin and as you saw earlier, I have skills which help my king. Even if he doesn't know of them." Merlin was hoping that the woman understood what he was talking about. By the sad smile that she displayed, Merlin thought she had.

"Ah. That answers my earlier question." Annya said whilst nodding. "I will keep that in mind. So how are you feeling?"

"Well I'm feeling fine. The blade didn't go to far in, so the actual wound isn't too bad." The servant answered truthfully.

Annya smiled warmly at this. "That's good to hear." She seemed genuinley pleased. This took Merlin by surprise. Somebody actually cared about his health other than Gaius or Gwen.

"So have you spoken to Arthur yet?" Merlin inquired.

"Yes. And he has let me stay in Camelot for as long as I need to. He has also given me sole use of you until a perminent servant can be sorted." Merlins mouth dropped at this. This caused laughter from every body in the room except Merlin. Even Gaius seemed slightly amused. Then Merlins face lifted.

"Does this mean I don't have to do anything for Arthur?" He asked good naturedly.

All Annya said as a reply was. "Yes. But you'll have to do work for me." Then she left the room.

All they heard as she shut the door was a very strange sounding squeal of delight and then, "God that was fun!" as Annya talked to herself. Obviously she wasn't used to bossing people around.

"Well it could be worse." Gwaine stated as he vacated the physicians room. "You could have got a miserable old git." Merlin just stared after Annya in disbelief.


	7. Chapter 7

Annya squealed in delight as she shut the door to Gaius' chambers. That had been so much fun. And the look on Merlins face as she told him he would be working for her. Priceless.

She decided that she would let him have two days rest before she put him to work. He had earned it. Wouldn't tell him that yet. And then there was Gwaine with his amazing hair. How had he done it? "Doesn't matter." she thought to herself. It was Gwaine. His hair had always been quite good. Opening her door, she looked around the room that she had been given. It was quite big. Bigger than any other room she had ever had. This would do nicely.

Merlin was still staring after Annya, when Gwaine left around 5 minutes later. Arthur had given his services. His amazing services if he may add. How dare he. But she was right. He could have done worse. Also she seemed to Be nicer than Arthur. But that wasn't exactly hard. He was a horrible boss. Did he even know that Merlin had got hurt? He guessed not. As he was thinking this, Arthur stormed in the door.

"What the hell were you thinking Merlin? Attacking bandits by yourself?" the king shouted manically. Wait. Does this mean that he cares?

"Well there was the fact that I can now fight. And also if I hadn't, they would have killed the girl." Merlin replied bluntly. Arthur's reaction to Merlins retort was to look at the his 'idiot' manservant. Arthur shook his head. Obviously he wasn't used to Merlin being knight-like.

"Well. You should have been more careful." Arthur shouted. Merlin sighed with exasperation.

"Well how was I meant to know that the blade was poisoned." Arthurs face fell at this.

"It was poisoned!" Arthur shouted again. Oh dear. "How could you be so stupid?!"

"Well I'm sorry I'm more worried about another persons health, than my own. Also I thought that I had killed the mercenary that slashed my back." Merlin was still calm whilst Arthur was almost screaming. Instead of carrying on with the Argument, he stormed out of the physicians room. Merlin sighed. He should have known that Arthur would be annoyed at the stupidest things.

Arthur sighed as he flopped down on his bed. Merlin was always getting into trouble or getting hurt. Why couldn't he just think about things before he acted. Merlin didn't know this, but Arthur really did care about Merlin.

"Arthur. What's wrong?" Gwen asked. Arthur sighed.

"It's Merlin. He got himself hurt again." The king admited. Gwen smiled to herself.

"Don't worry. He is fine. I bumped into Gaius earlier. He said that Merlin is up and about. The poison that was in his system." Gwen assured her husband. Arthur sighed at this also.

"It's not that. It's the fact that he got hurt doing something stupid again. He nevernthinks befor he acts!" Arthur exclaimed exasperatedly. Gwen looked puzzled at this.

"I had heard that he saved a woman's life. And a Princess at that. Was that stupid?" Gwen asked. Not even a hint of disgust or annoyance in her voice. For the third time, Arthur sighed.

"No that bit wasn't. But the getting himself hurt bit was." The young king replied.

"So it's just that he got himself hurt and you weren't there him get annoyed at him?" The queen asked softly. Arthur didn't want to admit this but his wife was right.

Leon was trying to avoid most of the knights. He hadn't seen them since he had gotten back. He was still trying to deal with the fact that Merlin has magic. Merlin! Also he was a hung called a dragonlord. Whatever it was, it was something of immense power. He had felt that power resonating from his words. It was unnerving. Turning the corner to go to his room, he bumped into Arthur. Arthur looked slightly surprised at this.

"Leon!" Arthur exclaimed. "Where have you been?" Arthur asked with worry in his voice. Leon then thought of the excuse that seemed to get Merlin off of everything for a while.

"I was at the tavern." Leon explained nonchalantly. Arthur's face seemed to soften at this.

"I understand Leon" He said, in what Leon expected, was Arthur's representation of an understanding voice. "It must be hard to find out that some of your memories were fabricated by a sorcerer." Arthur then proceeded to walk off with a pleased look on his face. As Leon stared in disbelief at the receding Arthur, he couldn't help but throw something at him. The only thing that was close to hand was a goblet, that one of the servants was taking to or from somebodies room. Leon promptly picked it up, downed the contense and threw the empty goblet into the back of Arthur's head. The young king then fell onto his bottom whilst trying to turn around, to see who the offending thrower was. There was a complete look of shock on Arthur's face as he looked up to see Leon to be the only person standing there that looked like he had thrown something, amid a sea of startled faces. Leon then stalked off without somuch as an explaination.

When Merlin walked around the corner tosee the king on the floor, with a goblet next to his head. Merlin had managed to keep his face mostly straight. As soon as Arthur turned to look at Merlin with completely horrified expression, Merlin couldn't help it. He broke down into a fit of laughter which caused him to cry.

"Merlin. What did I do?" Arthur asked his servant who was still laughing on the floor. "Merlin I'm serious!" Arthur looked horrified. Which only caused Merlin to laugh even more hysterically. Merlin tried to talk but wasn't able to as he was gasping for air. All of the other servants that were walking around, were doing a much better job of keeping their ammusment hidden. Annya walked around the corner, obviously to talk to Arthur, but seemed to think better of it when she saw Merlin laughing on the floor with Arthur looking horrified. Both Merlin and Arthur heard Annya roar with laughter as soon as she was around the corner.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello people.**

**New chapter time. Sorry for late updates. it was snowing in england. Not fun.**

**please reveiw. really helpfull for my next chapter**

**enjoy :)**

By the time Merlin had finally stopped laughing, Arthur had left to seek out Annya. Merlin stood up to see Gwaine, Elyan and Percival staring at him.

"Melin. Care to explain whats was so funny." Gwaine asked in mock innocent voice. This caused the young servant to start laughing uncontrollably. After around 5 more minutes of laughing, Merlin once again gained some semblance of composure.

"Well. I was trying to find Arthur. I heard a crashing. As I walked around the corner, I saw Arhur on the floor, with a completly horrified expression, a bit like this," Merlin made a very exaggerated horrofied face which caused the trio a lot of amusment. "I looked up to see sir Leon standing like he had thrown something at the king." The 3 knights eyebrows raised conciderable at this. "He had thrown a goblet at Arthur. Before you ask, no I don't know why." The knights looked at each other.

"We should probably go and check on Leon." Elyan said bluntly as he walked away. Merlin followed the knights for a little while, but then peeled off.

"Leon! You in here?" Elyan shouted as he walked into the aurmory. When he got no answer, he left again and made his way to the training field.

Leon poked his head ut of his hiding place behind the spear rack. What had he been thinking? He'd thrown a goblet at the king. But then again. Sometimes the king can be a royal prat. Hadn't he seen how upset he was when he had said that last? Leon decied tht he was going to go back to the clearing to blow off some steam. As he left the amoury he had an idea. He rushed back to his room and took out his fathers spear. He hadn't practiced with it in a while. He took the spear out of his cupboard and used the back strap that was with the spear. As he was walking through the castle to the stables, he bumped into Merlin.

"Merlin. Would you like to come and do some extra practice with me in the clearing you found me in earlier?" Leon asked as soon as Merlin saw him. Merlin looked slightly shocked but nodded and said.

"Sure. I'm sure you could do with some practice." Melin was only half joking when he said that. Leon undestood wht he was saying. Magical practice.

"Great. Lets go then." Leon exclaimed as he once again startd towards the stables. 20 minutes later the duo were in the clearing that Merlin and Leon had reveled there magic to each other.

Merlin immediatly became a different person. More sure of himself and a lot less clumsy. It was an uncanny change.

"Right. First things first. What dou want to know? Healing magic? Stuning magic? Offensive magic? Elemental magic? or do you want to know how to contorl your natural abilities?" Merlin asked seriously. Leon thought for a while before answering. "I want to learn how to control my natural abilities." Merlin looked relieved at this.

"Right. First of all, lets see how strong you are. See if you can move that rock." Merlin stated, whilst pointing at a large rock. Leon looked at it and felt hi magic raising inside of him. He concentrated on lifting the rock as high as he could. Nothing happened. Leon was frustrated at this. He concentrated harder and the rockbegan to judder. 'Just a little more!' Leon mentally shouted. Out of the corne of his eye,he saw Merlin flinch slightly. This caused Leon to completly loose his concentration.

"Now is probably a good time to mention that magic users can comunicate telepathically." Merlin hastilly explained. Leons eyebrows almost escaped from is face. Telepathy? Was Merlin joking?

'_No I'm not joking Leon' _Merlins voice sounded in his head.

'_Merlin?' _Leon asked inside his own head.

_'Of course.' _Merlin said in his mentaly voice. A small smile played on his face. Leon was shocked.

"So what else can you teach me?" Leon asked with intrest. Merlins small smileturned into a fully fledged cheesy grin.

"Oh I can teach you so much." Merlin answered with slight menece.

"MERLIN!" Artur shouted. Where was that useless servant of his? Arthur rubbed the bump on his head caused by the goblet thrown by Leon. He wasnt surprised why Gwen got annoyed at him wheneve he threw a goble at would have to make sure that next time he threw one, that it hit Melin in the face. Arthur smiled sadistically at this thought. Although. Merli ws surprisingly good at dodgeing any projectile that flew his way. How did he do that? Obviously to do with his recent training. Arthur stood up frm the papers he was studying. He still hadnt seen Leon since the Great Goblet Incident, as it was now called by many of the castles staff. What had he said wrong? Or was it that Leon didnt know how to vent his anger at the fact that some of his memories were faricated? Yes, that must be it. Thinking about Leon, where had he gotten to? He was usually on the training feild. He'd try there first. As he went to wal out of the dor, Elyan burst in, which caused the door to hit Arthur on the head.

"My Lord... What are you doing on the floor?" Elyan asked, notknowing what he had just done.

"Well I was about to go and find Leon when the door suddenly opened AND HIT ME IN THE FACE!" Arthur shouted the last part. Elyan paled.

"I am so sorry your highness." Elyan quickly apologised. Arthur gave him a small smile.

"So what is it that you wanted?" Arthur asked as Elyan looked ashamed.

"Right. Leon isnt at the training ground or in his room." Elyan explained. "Also one of the palace horses is missing." Arthur pondered about this for a while.

"Right. Take Gwaine and go to the clearing that he saw earlier." Arthur stated tiredly.

"Of course your highness" Elyan looked slightly relieved at this. Elyan scampered out of the Kings room. Arthur sighed.


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi guys. **

**Its me again. Sorry for not updating sooner. I've been heavily ladened with exams for the last two weeks.**

**Here it is.**

Elyan raced around the corner towards Gwaines room. Busting through the door the knight shouted **"**Gwai**.."**the rest of the knights name died in his throat. Gwaine looked up in shock. "Elyan! It's not what it looks like!" Gwaine hastily exclaimed. Elyan looked at he scene in front of him. Lady Annya was being held tightly in the knights arms. Annya looked as if she had recently been crying. Elyan looked back at the face of Gwaine, which was now calm again.

"Gwaine. Leon is missing again. He...he through a goblet at the king" Elyan blurted out. Gwaine looked shocked at this. Then he burst out laughing. Elyan looked horrified at this.

"Gwaine!" Elyan shouted in shock.

"Leon threw a goblet at Arthur?! That must have been a sight!" Gwaine exclaimed. Elyan chuckled discretely at this.

"Lady Annya." The knight asked the clearly upset woman. "Is it ok if I take Gwaine away from you for a while?" Elyan asked softly. "He will be able to really help me to find Merlin and Sir Leon." Annya looked up at Gwaine and nodded.

"Yes it is ok. Please find them and bring them back. Merlin has some jobs to do." Annya was smiling by the last statement. Elyan laughed slightly at this. Merlin was either going to really like her or hate her.

"Right. Elyan, lets go to the stables and get some horses. I may know where they have disappeared off to." Gwaine said slyly. Elyan frowned slightly at this.

"Ok then. Lead on" Elyan stated skeptically.

"Merlin! Its not working!" Leon shouted in desperation. Merlin looked down from where he was sitting.

"You're doing well Leon. Just 2 more minutes." Merlin called down from his perch. Leon was sweating profusely as he continuously tried to keep the log in mid air. Merlin's head poked out from on top of said log.

"Come on Leon. This is the first thing I saw you do with magic. I expected that you would be better at it." The cheeky smile was evident in his voice.

Upon hearing that, Leon deliberately dropped the log. An unexpecting Merlin was suddenly floating in mid air right in front of Leon with a very amazed look on his face.

"Since when could you levitate?" Leon asked incredulously.

"Well about two seconds ago." Merlin answered almost as incredulously. Just as he said that he dropped onto the ground with a loud thud. "Ouch. I may have to work on that." Merlin stated bluntly as he nursed his sore buttocks. Jumping up Merlin exclaimed.

"Right. What else do you want to learn?" Gesturing to Leon with his free hand. Leon thought for a while and then decided on something he wanted to learn.

"Lets try combat magic that doesn't involve smashing the opponent into a tree. My back still hurts from last time." Leon answered. Merlin visibly winced.

"Yeah. Sorry about that." Merlin said sheepishly. "Right. Combat magic. Well there isnt really any specific type of magic called 'Combat magic' but there are a few elemental spells that always help in fights. The first one is one that causes the ground to shake. The words of the spell are '**Ic þe bebiede þæt þu abifest nu'**." The effect was that the earth around the two warlocks started to groan and then it started to shake uncontrollably. Merlin let the magic dissipate and turned back to Leon. After going through the vocabulary, Merlin asked Leon to try to cast the spell.

" **Ic þe bebiede þæt þu abifest nu!" **Leon shouted the spell as loudly as he could. The resulting earthquake was nothing more than a light rumble in the ground. Leon groaned in frustration and again shouted "**Ic þe bebiede þæt þu abifest nu!" **This time there was a noticeable shift in the earth. Leon tried the spell a few more times until the was a substantial amount of movement in the earth.

"Well done Leon!" Merlin exclaimed. Leon punched the air in triumph. He'd done it! A proper spell.

Gwaine and Elyan thundered through the forest on their horses. Gwaine was slightly ahead of Elyan and was leading the younger knight to the clearing that he had found Leon and Merlin in that morning. Gwaine suddenly stopped as he felt a shifting in the earth. Not a minute later he was thrown off of his horse as a more powerful wave reverberated through the forest. Gwaine sprang to his feet as drawing his sword. He looked around as Elyan was groaning and getting up. Gwaine then remembered who they were going to find and he relaxed.

"Elyan. You alright?" Gwaine asked the younger knight.

"Yeah I'm fine. What was that?" He asked. Gwaine shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't really know. But I have a feeling we are soon going to find out."

Merlin picked himself up off of the floor. For the first time in a while, Merlin was amazed. Leon may not be that powerful, but he sure was dedicated. There were not 3 miles from Camelot and Leon, a _Knight _of Camelot, and he was shouting out magic. Merlin almost laughed. It was a strange feeling.

"Right. You've got that spell under your belt. Lets try another one. This one is a fire spell, so look away from me when you cast it. The words are **Leohtbora!" **As Merlin said this he held up his hand and the log that he had previously been sitting on burst into flames. Leon sprang back in surprise.

"Your turn." Merlin said cheerily as he extinguished the flames wordlessly. Leon looked at Merlin skeptically.

"Do you really think I can do that?" He asked whilst gesturing to the smoldering log. Merlin smiled slightly.

"Maybe not with such good outcomes but yes." Merlin said some-what smugly. Leon slightly smiled at this. "Go on then." Merlin gestured to the log.

Leon prepared himself to cast the spell. "**Leohtbora!**"Leon shouted at the top of his lungs. There was a bright flash as the log ignited.

Elyan and Gwaine were now at the edge of the clearing that Gwaine had found Leon and Merlin in earlier that day.

"Shhh." Whispered Gwaine. "Wait and watch." Gwaine gestured towards the clearing where Leon and Merlin were standing. As Elyan watched, Leon stuck his hand out in front of him, Seemingly motioning towards the burnt log in front of the both of them.

"**Leohtbora!" **Elyan heard Leon shout and the log burst into flames. Elyan looked on in shock as Merlin smiled and waved his hand towards the log. The flames extinguished. Elyan had lost it now.

"Did you see that?!" Elyan shouted at Gwaine. He turned around to see Gwaine smiling like a mad man. "You knew about this?!"

"Well only from this morning." Gwaine smiled.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello people. It's been a while. **

**I have had to concentrate in GCSEs at the moment. **

**Easter holiday know. Will try and juggle revision and writing. **

**Hopfully the ****Main story will start next chapter. Oops. Spoilers. **

**Please review. **

"Gwaine! How could you not tell me something like this?" Elyan shouted. Gwaine shrugged.

"It never came up in conversation. Its not one of those things you can just bring up in normal conversation." Gwaine stated nonchalantly. Elyan thought about this for a while and Gwaine did have a point there. Elyan shook his head in amusement. He could imagine the way that conversation would go if the king was there. The king would no doubt play the betrayal card and Merlin would retaliate with some sort of speech dampening spell and say a witty remark.

"Ok, you have a point there Gwaine. Now are we just going to sit here talking, or are we going to scare the neckerchief off Merlin?" Elyan asked his fair-haired counterpart. Gwaine laughed at this.

"Lets go then." Gwaine replied

Merlin smiled at Leon. "Well done. That was a perfect fighting spell." Merlin congratulated the astounded knight.

"LEON!" Merlin heard a voice cry. He whirled around and saw Elyan charging towards the startled magic knight. When Elyan was around 10 meters away, the queens brother drew his sword. Merlin, ever quick to act, shouted, "**Hleap on bæc!" **which successfully stunned the knight. "Elyan, let me explain. Leon has only known of his magic for a day. He thought he could use it to protect Arthur like I do. And yes I know you feel betrayed but it was the only way I could keep him and everybody else safe..."

"So you have magic as well? Well that makes a lot of scence." Elyan interupted Merlin before he could finish his speach. Merlins face screwed up in confusion.

"Oh come on. You are with Leon in a clearing, and he had just made a log cath fire. Any normal person would be running away. But you were looking proud. That either means that you dont care or you have magic." Elyan calmly explained.

"You're not annoyed? Well why do you have your god damned sword out?" Merlin asked the magically paralysed knight.  
Elyan sighed."I was going to throw it into the ground. It's a knight thing." Leon nodded at this and Merlin ended his spell. Elyan then proceeded to throw his sword into the ground and hug Leon.

Back in the throne room, Arthur was still nursing his bruised head, when Gwen walked in. When Gwen saw the worried look on Arthurs face, she smiled softly.

"I'm sure they are fine Arthur." The queen said quietly. Arthur looked up and smile at his wife.

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right. But I still can't help wonder why Leon threw a goblet at my head." Arthur looked genuinly puzzeled about that. Gwen again smiled softly.

"He has been having a hard couple of days." Gwen replied. Arthur didnt seem to be satisfied with that answer, but he let it go for the time being. "Just give him some time to come to terms with what has happened." Gwen comforted Arthur as best she could.

Aanya walked aimlessly through the castle. Since Gwaine had left she had been walking around. A couple of times she had stumbled into a nobles room and had to about 30 minutes of walking she had finaly cone to the palace gardens. She smiled to herself as she thought about where she had grown up. The willow trees. The wild flowers and animals that seemed so happy in the woods around her castle.

"I thought I'd find you out here." Aanya heard a Soft voice state. She looked up to see Gaius standingany the door. "From what I have found out about your kingdom, I can tell that you like nature." Aanya looked shocked. Gaius laughed at this.

"How can you know of where I lived? I haven't told anybody about it." sheshakes incredulously.

"For someone as old as me it wasn't hard. You are from the kingdom of flowers are you not?" Gaius asked. "And from what a have observed, Gwaine is from there too." How could this old man know of her kingdom? More importantly, how did he know of her relation to Gwaine?

"How..." Aanya started. Gaius smiled a knowing smile.

"For someone as old as me, it's not surprising that I know more than most people." The physician answered her unspoken question. "I am sorry that I alarmed you." Gaius them added hastily. Aanya smiled.

"I was just shocked that you knew of my relationg to Sir Gwaine." Aanya reassured the old physician. "I am feeling a little tired though. I may go and lay down for a while." Aanyaare parted as Gaius nodded. When she was nearing her room she heard the unmistakeable sound of horse shoes in the courtyard. She looked down to see Leon, Gwaine and Elyan laughing at Merlin as he fell off of his horse. Arthur went out to greet the knights but abruptly stopped as he saw his manservant in a pile of horse excrement.

"_Mer_lin. How many times do I have to tell you that manure is for the farmers fields. Not for personal use!" Arthur tried to sound serious but ended up with a massive smile on his face.

"Could have fooled me with all of that muck in your chambers!" Retorted Merlin whilst trying to get the horse muck off of his leg. The rest of the knights present laughed at this and Aanya chuckled. Aanya watched as Merlin raced into the castle towards the physicians chambers. Aanya smiled at how she thought that conversation would go.

When Merlin burst into Gaiuses chambers, the first thing Gaius noticed was the reek that was coming off of Merlin.

"Good god Merlin!" Gaius muttered. "You smell worse than an Afanc!" Merlin grimaced at the thought of that little escapade.

"Sorry Gaius. Fell off of my horse in the courtyard." The warlock explained sheepishly.

"Well you had better get cleaned up. Arthur has called a meeting of the round table. It sounded important." Gaius stated ominously. Merlin dashed into his room.

"Oh and Merlin?" Gaius shouted after him. Merlin poked his head around the corner to look at his mentor questioningly. "Arthur requested that you inform Aanya that she will be asked to help Gwen pick a serving girl for herself." Gaius added. Merlin smiled at the mention of Aanya. Then he remembered he had horse manure on his leg and dashed into his room.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello people. another chapter here. **

**sorry but last chapter I sorta lied. The main story hasnt started yet.**

**Please reveiw otherwise it takes me longer to think about stuff to right.**

**pitiful excuse but oh well.**

Merlin woke up to sunlight streaming through his small window. It took him a few minutes to realize how late in the morning it was. He was late for his first day working for Annya. He groaned to himself and rushed into his clothes. Running out of the door, Merlin shouted back at Gaius,

"I'll see you later Gaius. I've got to go to work now!" Merlin heard a muffled reply and rushed out of the physician's room. First he had to go to the kitchen to get Annya something for breakfast. When he got to the kitchen he found that there was a platter already set out with a note saying,

"_I thought lady Annya would like this for breakfast." _Merlin smiled and scooped it up into his hands. He made his way to Anny's chambers and knocked on her door. There was no answer so he walked in and set the food down on a table. Merlin looked around to see Annya still sleeping in the bed. Smiling, Merlin turned around and walked into the table. The resulting noise woke Annya from her sleep.

"Merlin? What are you doing here?" The sleepy woman asked drowsily. Merlin turned around and said, "I brought you breakfast." He gave her a sheepish smile. Annya rubbed her eyes and sat up. "Why did you do that?" She asked somewhat confused. Merlin smiled.

"Because I'm acting as your servant until you get your own one." Merlin replied. Annya smiled at the memory of that conversation.

"Right. What's for breakfast today then?" Annya asked as she got out of bed and went behind the screen to get dressed. "Merlin, pass me those trousers from the wardrobe please." Merlin looked at the wardrobe and saw that an outfit had been set out for her. It consisted of brown traveling trousers, a green top and light leather armour. Merlin looked confused at the choice of clothes but gave them to her anyway. Annya emerged from behind the screen and sat at the table.  
"Merlin? What's for breakfast?" Annya again asked. Merlin jumped and gave her a small smile.  
"Bread, cheese, ham, apple and water." Merlin answered whilst serving Annya. She smiled.

"Thank you Merlin." Annya said as she tucked into her breakfast. She stopped again when she saw that Merlin was still standing there. "Why are you still standing there Merlin." Annya asked between bites. Merlin looked at her weirdly.

"This is what servants usually do. Well unless you are told to leave or are told to do something else." Merlin replied in a sing song voice. Annya laughed slightly.

"No seriously. Is it just so you don't have to work for Arthur?" Annya said playfully. Merlin smiled and stated,

"You know me so well already." Annya motioned for Merlin to sit down and handed him her apple. Merlin looked shocked but took the apple. Annya saw the shocked look and smiled. Arthur must be horrible to Merlin. "I'm not going to be able to eat all of this for a breakfast. Sit and talk with me for a while. It's a bit boring being the foreign princess in a big castle." Merlin smiled and started talking. Completely forgetting about what he was supposed to be doing.

Arthur sat at the round table and wondered where Merlin was. A few seconds after that thought crossed the kings mind, there was a loud bang and a groan from the other side of the great door that lead into the council chambers. The door then opened to reveal Merlin rubbing a sore head with a sheepish grin on his face.

"_Mer_lin!" Arthur shouted. "Where have you been?" The king asked his manservant. Merlin's face turned a light shade of pink.

"I was talking to Annya over breakfast and I lost track of time." Merlin answered honestly. Many of the knights around the table made some sort of suggestive noise apart from Gwaine. Arthur was slightly confused by that. What was even more confusing was when Gwaine didn't make some sort of insinuating comment about Merlin.  
"Well. Never mind about that. I have called you here for a reason and I'm sure you are all wondering why." There were murmurs of agreement throughout the hall. Arthur raised his hand to silence them. "As I am sure you are aware, In the last few days it has come to my attention that one of the knights in this room is more noble than first thought. Sir Leon, as it turns out, is a member of the royal family of a kingdom that was wrongfully attacked by my father." Leons face lit up slightly when Arthur said this. "I wish to take a small amount of knights to Rengath and liberate some of the personal belongings of Sir Leon and, if Leon agrees, salvage some of the weaponry for the protection of Camelot." At the mention of the weaponry, Gaius raised his fabled 'Eyebrow of doom' and said,

"Sire, you do realise that the weapons were forged with magic?" The rest of the people in the room looked at the king to try and figure out what he would say in response. Arthur stood up and stated,

"As long as they are used for the protection of the kingdom and its people, I don't care that they were forged with the use of magical materials. Now we must get ready for a long ride." As the knights were about to leave, Arthur quickly added, "Be sure to leave behind anything that bears the mark of Camelot. We will have to travel through many kingdoms, not all of which are friendly to Camelot." The knights then filed out of the council chambers to get ready for the next few weeks.

In a tavern just outside the borders of Camelot, a young man of 17 is sitting at a table by himself. He has a bow on his back and several swords strapped to his sides. Alongside his bow is a quiver of arrows and a few throwing knifes are sticking out of his belt. A drunk bandit is walking towards him with an axe in his hand.

"I was talking to you, boy!" the bandit shouts at the young man. The young man sips his drink and says cheerfully,

"I know. But you were so incoherent that I didn't understand a word of what you were saying. Now if you will excuse me, I have to finish my drink." As the boy goes to take a sip, the bandit slaps the tankard out of his hand.

"You are going the right was for a beating boy." The bandit raised his empty fist to hit the boy. The boy then springs up and catches the bandits flying hand. After that he twists the bandits arm behind his back and slams his face into the table. The tavern goes silent and looks on at the scene in awe. The boy then takes the money pouch off of the dazed bandit and pays for a room.

**I wanted to introduce a bad-ass guy that wasnt from Camelot to the scene.**

** You will learn more about him and the mysterious bandit in the next chapter**

**adios**


	12. Chapter 12

**hello again amigos**

**Another chapter is here.**

**enjoy**

The young man awoke to the sound of somebody trying to break his door down. Jumping out of the bad he had been sleeping in, he rushed to pick up his weapons. He had slept in his armour as he didn't like the look of the bad. Just as he drew his sword, the bandit from the night before broke the door to his room down.

"You are going to pay for last night boy!" The brute shouted. He swung his axe for the boy who proceeded to dexterously deflect the axe off of his sword. The bandit was surprised at the young man's strength, but continued to attack. After blocking and deflecting many attacks by the brute, the young man dodged the swing of the axe and hit the back end, causing it to jam i8nto the wall. He then pointed the sword at the neck of the bandit and calmly stated,

"Leave this place and never come back or I will kill you next time." With that the bandit scampered out of the room. The young man sighed and liberated the axe from the wall and tucked it into his belt. He packed up the rest of his meagre belongings and walked out of the room to see that some of the bandits' men were standing there with their weapons drawn. Without pausing, the young man turned around, ran to his window, opened it and jumped out. Much to the amazement of the people in the tavern and outside it. When he hit the floor he rolled and cursed his luck. Another tavern he couldn't go to for a while. He was trying to get to Camelot, but it was hard work outsmarting bandits and Morganas men all the time.

The king looked at the assembled knights. Accompanying him and Leon on this trip were; Percival, Elyan, Gwaine and, of course, Merlin who had his recently acquired sword strapped to his waist. They had all mounted their horses and were about to leave when Annya appeared next to Merlin on a horse.

"Annya, what are you doing here?" He asked her when he saw her. She gave him a smile.

"I am coming with you." She answered casually. Gwaine turned around to see Annya and shook his head whilst smiling. Annya poked her tongue out at him and continued to do so when his back was once again turned. Merlin observed this and laughed slightly.

"You two seem close." He stated in a questioning tone. Annya looked at him in shock.

"Yes. We are." For a brief second, Merlin's face fell but then it was replaced by his usual goofy smile.

"That's good. He's a good knight. But be careful about him. He spends too much time on his hair and not enough time practicing." Merlin said with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. The rest of the knights laughed at this. Then merlin seemed to remember something.

"You all know she's here? Why haven't you said anything?" The knights laughed harder. Then Gwaine spoke up,

"Because I know that when she has made her mind up then there is no swaying her." The rest of the knights looked slightly puzzled by this.

"Gwaine." Elyan started. "When I came to find you before looking for Leon, Why were you in Annyas room?" Elyan asked innocently. Gwaine stiffened and looked around at Annya. She understood what he was asking and nodded.

"I was asking her how my little sister was doing." Gwaine answered cryptically. Elyan's face lit up.

"Is Princess Annya your little sister then Gwaine?" The rest of the knights looked between Gwaine and Annya. Gwaine nodded and so did Annya. Arthur then stopped and looked at Gwaine in shock.

"So you are also a Prince? Why do you people not tell me these things!?" Arthur shouted in exasperation. Instead of causing silence like he had hoped, it caused the knights to laugh. Arthur decided that he would have to talk to Gwaine about it when they set up camp.

Annya had noticed the way that Merlin's face fell when she mentioned that she was close to Gwaine. But then she had also seen a genuinely happy smile appear when it came to light that that they were siblings. Why did that affect Merlin so much? They had only known each other for a few days and they hadn't talked to each other for most of that. It was only yesterday morning when they had finally had a chance to talk properly and even then they hadn't talked about anything in particular. They had just talked. And talked. And talked. They had talked until Merlin had remembered that he was meant to go to a meeting of the round table and had rushed out of the door. Annya smiled at the memory. Of course there was the fact that Merlin had saved her from Bandits and had simultaneously revealed his magic to her. Merlin looked at her questioningly.

"I was just remembering the first time we met." Annya answered his unspoken question. "You saved me from bandits in quite a spectacular way." She hoped he understood the meaning of her words. His cheeks went bright red and she laughed. Arthur then turned around in his saddle and asked,

"So how did you save her exactly?" Merlin panicked a bit when he tried to think up a convincing lie, but Annya beat him to it.

"I was tied up to a tree and some bandits were about to have their way with me." Gwaine gave a low growl and reached for his sword unconsciously. Annya continued unfazed,

"I looked up to see Merlin charging into the small clearing with his sword drawn. He kicked one of the bandits in the chest which caused him to stumble into a tree and get knocked out. Then he fought of the other bandits and killed all but one of them. He let the last one go because he couldn't have been over 15 years old." Arthur looked shocked at this. Before Arthur could say anything else, a young man burst onto the path. He was slightly out of breath. He looked up at the knight on their horses and groaned.

"Please don't say you are with Caleb. Because I have had enough to deal with today without more people chasing me." The knight looked at the boy in shock just before a group of 10 bandits came crashing through the brush behind him. The bandits stopped when they saw the knights. A rather brutish looking man shouted at them,

"Who are you?" Gwaine drew his sword and the rest of the knights followed suit. The Gwaine said in his trademark voice,

"Come on Caleb. Don't you recognise me?" Realisation seemed to dawn in the bandits eyes.

"You! You cheated me out of all of my money! You will pay for this Gwaine!" Before the bandit could draw his sword, there was an axe sticking out of his head. Everybody looked at the young man in shock.

"What?" He asked. "He tried to kill me once before and I was getting bored of hearing him talk." Gwaine was liking this boy already. Within no time the knights and the boy had managed to kill or scare away most of the bandits. When the last bandit had fled, Gwaine asked the boy,

"What's your name then kid?" The boy seemed to stiffen at Gwaine calling him kid.

"My name is Galahad." The boy answered.

**another chapter over. **

**Adios**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hello people.**

**I'm back after a slightly shorter break this time.**

**here it is.**

After introducing Galahad to the rest of the expedition, Arthur set about trying to find out as much as he could about him. Galahad didn't seem too enthusiastic about sharing anything about himself.

"I was born on a farm just outside the borders of Camelot." Galahad stated whilst cleaning his weapons and staring into the fire. "We didn't have much so I started hunting for food and to sell the furs. On a good day I could catch a few deer and sometimes a few foxes if I hunt at the right times. I carried on like that for a few years until a Bandit by the name of Kanen." Merlin stiffened when he heard that name and so did Arthur. "He destroyed the farm, killed my father and left my mother with nothing. A few months later I left." All of the other people around the fire looked shocked and appalled.

"Kanen is dead." Merlin blurted out after a while of silence. Galahad seemed relieved at this.

"How did it happen?" He asked Merlin. Merlin and Arthur then set about explaining the battle in Ealdor to the rest of the group. The knights who were hearing this for the first time seemed shocked that Arthur had disobeyed his father like that and that Morgana had helped them. Galahad smiled at the recounting of the story. It wasn't a happy smile; it was more of a smile of morbid pleasure. Some of the knights looked worried at this, but Merlin understood. Kanen had destroyed his whole life.

"You have rid the world of the man that I hated with all my soul. I would have liked to do it myself, but I am glad that a town finally had the courage to stand up to that bastard." Galahad growled.  
Galahad rose from the fire and said, "I'm going for a bit of a hunt. I will be back by morning with something for breakfast." Without waiting for conformation, Galahad picked up his bow and quiver and set of for the forest.

Merlin watched the young hunter disappear and felt sorry for him. He was young but he had already killed many men and was used to surviving by himself for god knows how long.

"_Mer_lin!" Arthur snapped Merlin back to reality. "We were just debating whether we should ask Galahad to accompany us to Rhunemoin. He seems to be trustworthy, and we could always do with another fighter." Merlin nodded. That seemed like a good idea. Maybe Arthur could help the young man sort his life out for the better.

"That seems like a good idea. It also means that we could eat proper food once in a while." Merlin replied.

Hunting always seemed to calm Galahad down. Probably something about being in control of a situation. At this moment in time, he was stalking a herd of deer. His well-honed ears picked up a rustling in the bushes next to him. A few seconds later a Hydradoss appeared next to him. A Hydradoss was a miniature version of the Hydra. This didn't mean that it was any less deadly; it just meant that it was less seen and less heard of. Galahad slowly backed off and tried to find a way to lure it back to the camp. He didn't have to worry, seen as though it thought he was its next meal. After getting out of the beasts range, Galahad turned and ran the way he had come. After a few minutes of running, he emerged in the small clearing that they had set up camp in. The knights looked at him questioningly.

"Hydradoss…coming this way…need fire." Galahad explained. Nobody seemed to know what he was talking about until the beast slithered into the campsite. All of the knights drew their swords and were already in a defensive stance.

"What is it?" Arthur asked. Galahad rolled his eyes.

"Didn't you listen to anything I just said?" the hunter asked in disbelief. Merlin butted in saying,

"You get used to it after a while." Arthur threw an angry look his way before returning his attention to the thing in front of him.

"Anyway. How do we kill it?" Arthur asked in an annoyed voice. Galahad sighed.

"We need fire. Fire is the only way to kill it." Whilst Galahad was talking, Elyan had attacked the Hydradoss and cut off its head.

"Well severing the head isn't a bad idea." The knight stated in a pleased voice. Everybody in the clearing looked relieved until they saw that Galahad hadn't lowered his sword.

"Have none of you heard of the Hydradoss?" the young hunter asked incredulously. All of the knights looked at him with blank faces and Galahad threw up his hands exasperatedly. "I knew it was a mistake tagging along with you. You don't understand anything of what is outside of your precious castle. A Hydradoss is a magical creature. If you cut off one of its heads then 2 grow back in its place." As if to illustrate his point, the assembled group heard more hissing. In the spot where the Hydradoss had been killed now stood a 2 headed Hydradoss. Elyan paled and took a step back.

"So we need fire?" Arthur asked with his sword raised. Galahad once again sighed.

"Yes. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to kill the bastard." Galahad growled as he picked up a stick from the fire. Striding towards the Hydradoss, he swung the stick in front of himself in an arc. The Hydradoss hissed in annoyance. When Galahad was close enough, he decapitated one of the heads and burnt the stump. The creature screamed in pain before lunging at the hunter. Galahad rolled away from the encroaching head and repeated the process of decapitation and burning.

Arthur looked on as the younger man ducked and rolled around the Hydradoss. It was almost rhythmic. Also the way he was so precise about it. If he could talk him into coming back to Camelot with him after this mission was over, then he may have gained a very valuable knight. And if not a knight, then at least a trainer. How would the rest of the knights react to having a trainer that was barely a man? Arthur was snapped out of his thoughts when Galahad threw the axe at his feet. He shied away from the axe and asked the young hunter,  
"What the hell?" Galahad just shrugged and stated,  
"I needed to get your attention, and you never seem to listen to anybody. Also I wanted to see your reaction to an axe nearly cutting off your toe." Arthur looked down to see that the actually blade was sticking out of his boot, only millimetres away from his toe. Arthur looked at the hunter in shock to see him sharpening a throwing knife.

"Wha.. Where do you get all of these weapons from?" Arthur shouted in outrage. Galahad just shrugged and went back to sharpening his knife. Arthur looked at his knights for help to see them equally as gobsmacked.

"What did I miss?" Annya asked as she walked back into the clearing.

**there you go.**

**bye again.**


	14. Chapter 14

Annya had gone off for a short walk. She realised she probably shouldn't be alone, but she just needed some time to think. In less than 2 months, she had gone from the princess of a very small kingdom, to a fugitive on the run from Mongana. And now she was on her way to a lost kingdom to try and find some magical swords. She laughed to herself and the unusual situation the she was now in. Walking back into the clearing that the rag-tag group had occupied, Annya saw that the knights were staring in horror at the newcomer. Galahad seemed to be oblivious to the looks of horror as he was just sharpening a small knife.

"What did I miss?" Annya asked. Arthur looked up at her and then shook his head. Merlin sauntered over to her and explained what had transpired. Annya laughed at the situation. Galahad looked at her with critical eyes before going back to sharpening some sort of bladed weapon. Annya looked at the young man. Annya watched the young hunter for a while. He seemed to know how to sharpen a knife properly. Also judging by the axe that the king had just extracted from his shoe, he had good aim as well. Annya thought that Galahad may have been handsome if he had paid attention to his appearance more. He had medium length, dark brown hair. Not quite like Gwaines but similar. He also had the starting's of a beard on his lower jaw. He's sleeves were pushed up to his elbows and she could see several scars on his arms as well as a few on his neck. Annya heard Merlin give a small sigh and flop to the floor a few feet away. Annya gave him a quick once over. Merlin was a different man when he thought no one was paying attention. His usual cheerfulness replaced by a sort of protective look that scanned most of the knights in the clearing. Also he seemed to take a few moments longer on the newest member of their expedition. Annya thought that she was just glancing at him until his eyes had made a full circuit of the group and fell upon her. His face made a slight change to a warmer smile before they both looked away with a slightly pink hue on their skin.

Gwaine was observing the whole situation in front of him. His baby sister was studying Merlin. When Merlin's eyes met hers there was a few moments of warm smiles before they both looked away with blushes on their faces. Gwaine gave a small smile to himself before speaking,  
"So Galahad. Why was that arse Caleb chasing you?" Gwaine asked the young hunter suddenly.

Galahad looked up and smiled, "Ahh yeah. You knew him didn't you?" Gwaine gave a fake grimace.

"I had the delight of knowing him yes." Gwaine answered, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I know what you mean. I was in a tavern just east of here. I had sold a fox pelt and so had enough money for a tankard of mead. I was sitting there minding my own business when this ogre of a man started mouthing off that he had the keenest eye and sharpest throw in the whole of Albion. Needless to say, he didn't. Upon seeing that he was heavily drunk, I laughed at him and stated, "You couldn't hit a door let alone a person." Caleb didn't like this and started shouting abuse at me. I didn't really understand much of it so I just carried on drinking." The rest of the congregated knights laughed slightly. Even Annya chuckled. Galahad continued with his narrative. "The brute then staggered over to me and started talking to me. After a brief conversation, he slapped my mead out of my hand." Gwaine growled slightly at this. Probably remembering a similar thing happening to him. Or just mourning the loss of a good tankard of mead. "As he went to hit me I caught his hand and slammed his face into the table, took his coins and brought myself a room for the night. The next morning I awoke to find him and his friends bashing my door down. So I gathered my weapons and jumped out of the window." When Galahad finished his story, he went back to sharpening one of his many weapons. The rest of the camp sat in an amazed silence.

After a few seconds of silence, Arthur spoke up.

"Galahad. Would you mind accompanying us to a place called Rhunemoin?" Arthur asked. Almost as soon as Arthur uttered the word Rhunemoin, Galahad froze up.

"Why are you going to Rhunemoin?" Galahad asked with almost no emotion in his voice. Arthur stared at him.

"We are going to retrieve some of the weapons.." Arthur started before Galahad sprung at him with his sword out. Galahad was now standing in front of a very surprised Arthur with his sword to the kings throat.

"You will find nothing for you at Enacagh!" The hunter almost shouted. The knights almost immediately sprung up and drew their swords. Merlin also drew the sword that Leon had given him, meanwhile Leon had retrieved his father's spear.

"Lay down your sword and you will not get hurt." Elyan commanded. That is when Merlin noticed the sword. It was identical to his in every way except one. It was a pure white colour. Merlin looked at his sword and then at the sword in Galahads hands.

"Where did you get that sword Galahad?" Merlin asked. Arthur looked at Merlin in disbelief.

"Why do you have to ask the weirdest questions at the worst times _Mer_lin?" Arthur asked his manservant. Galahad just looked down at the king questioningly. Merlin just sighed and looked at Galahad. Galahad then looked at the sword in Merlins hands and Leons spear.

"You..You have Enacghian weapons." It was not a question. Merlin nodded and motioned towards Leon.

"I think you need to talk to him about that, as he is the last remaining member of the royal family of Rhunemoin." Merlin stated whilst sheathing his sword. Galahad looked at Leo in disbelief. His sword wavered slightly. Leon spoke up.

"My name is Sir Leon Rasha Fellron, Knight of Camelot and Prince of Rhunemoin." Leon said grandly.

Merlin looked at Leo, and then gave a small laugh. Leon looked at Merlin with a questioning look.

"I don't think he knows who you.." Merlin started, just in time for Galahad to take his sword away from Arthur throat and switch it to Leons throat.


	15. Chapter 15

**Why hello there.**

**Sorry about the big wait. Exams.**

**Here you go.**

Galahad hadn't thought he would hear that name ever again. Not many people knew of Rhunemoin, and those who did were not the type of people that you wanted to get their hands on magically produced weapons. Galahad himself had only heard of Rhunemoin as a kingdom mentioned twice from his mother. She had called Enacagh the glowing city. The way she had described it made him wish that the tyrant Uther Pendragon had died years earlier. It was true that his family had lived on a farm ever since Galahad had been born, but one of his earliest memories was his father telling him about the citadel. But more importantly, his father had told him of the forges. They used to be the most well known in all of the kingdom. Creating some of the best weapons ever known. But when Uther had attacked without warning, Enacagh had fallen with almost no resistance. The weapons of Enacagh had been lost and the citadel had been over taken by hordes of bandits. Galahad had once tried to find the supposed hidden cache that had been fabled about in every tavern in the area for at least 5 years. All he had come away with was many scars and a single sword which he was now pointing at Leons throat.

"You cannot go to Enacagh and come away with your lives." Galahad started. "There are forces there that you have no idea existed. I will not let you go to my father's city and steal the weapons that he forged!" Galahad shouted the last part at no one in particular. Leon looked at the hunter in surprise.

"I thought you said your parents were farmers?" Merlin asked the now silent Galahad. Galahad looked like he was about to cry. Just as Merlin was about to ask again, Galahad withdrew his sword for Leons neck with a flourish and stormed off into the woodland. Merlin looked at Arthur and then chased after him.

Galahad heard the unmistakable sound of a bumbling idiot walking through the bush behind him. Galahad climbed up a tree and a few seconds later, king Arthurs manservant stumbled through the bush. From what Galahad could see, Merlin was actually concerned for the young hunter.

"Galahad, where are you?" Merlin shouted into the woodland surrounding him. 'Why did Galahad respond in that way? Why was he affected so much? And why had he threatened Sir..no, _Prince_ Leon?' Merlin was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Galahad sliding down the tree behind him.

"Looking for something Merlin?" A voice stated in a cold tone from behind him. Merlin wheeled around to see Galahad brandishing his sword menacingly. Merlin stared at the sword in Galahads hand and the young boys face. There was no emotion in his eyes. They were the eyes of a man who had lost everything and had been hardened to the world by that. Merlin shivered. He had seen those eyed before. First on the face of Nimueh and then in the eyes of Morgana .  
"Actually I was looking for you." Merlin stated. Galahad rolled his eyes.

"Well that is obvious. But I was asking what you were specifically looking to get." Galahad answered in a surprisingly bored tone. Merlin had the distinct feeling that Galahad had asked this exact question a lot of times.

"I was going to see if you wanted to talk about anything. Losing parents can be hard." Merlins eyes seemed to glisten slightly at the memory of his father's death. Galahad looked on with hard eyes.

"Merlin, you have no idea what my life has been like. I have been pushed away by everyone that I have met. Normal people cower away from me as soon as they realise where I was born. The only Merlin. Leave." The young hunters voice was cold. The warlock winced at the tone Galahad used. "NOW!" Galahad shouted at Merlin. The kings manservant left hastily.

Galahad looked at the creature in front of him in disgust. It was a near human beast, with a green reptilian tail and pointed ears. Galahad took a step back and griped his sword tighter.

"We meet again Galahad." The creature almost whispered in a silky smooth voice. "How have you been since our last meeting?" Galahad remembered his last meeting with this, _thing. _It was the year he had tried to find the weapons cache. This creature had been the one who had stopped him from taking any weapons and at the time, it had said something about a master wanting them for a big plan in the future. Something about the high priestess.

"It's time for you to explain yourself, _beast._" Galahad growled furiously at it. It just smiled slightly.

"I think not, young huntsman. The time for talk was over as soon as this conversation began. **Ic þé wiþdrífe." **The thing shouted as Galahad was thrown back into a tree. The blow didn't knock him out, only stunned him. The thing walked with a morbid grace towards Galahad. "I should have extinguished your puny little life the first time we met. You were so adamant that the weapons could be used as instruments of peace instead of war. Foolish child." The thing laughed as it took out an ornate, curved knife. The thing advanced on the crumpled figure of the hunter, with its knife poised in perfect position to slice the young man's neck.

Merlin once again looked on in horror at the scene unfurling in front of him. Those ears and that tail. It was another of Jonas's kind. A Cythraul. He had learnt the name from his magic book after the troll incident. Like the young warlock, the Cythraul is a creature of magic. One of the only other creatures to possess instinctual magic. Merlin knew what would happen if he let the Cythraul kill Galahad.  
Merlin jumped out from behind his tree and shouted at the Cythraul, "**Ástríce!" **Instead of flinging the creature away, the powerful spell only made the Cythraul stumble back a step.

"Who are you?" Merlin demanded in a commanding tone. The creature smirked arrogantly. Even Arthur could learn from that smile. "Who are you?" Merlin once again demanded.

"I am Ionæ. I see you have magic. A strange trait for a servant of king Arthur of Camelot. Does he know of your treachery?" Merlin scowled. "I see you have not. How hard it must be. Hiding your true self from everybody you love." Ionæ sneered softly. How he managed to sneer softly, Merlin didn't know.

"As you seem to know so much about me, you obviously know of the name the druids give me." Ionæ blanched slightly at the mention of this, but was back in control of himself in almost an instant.

"I do know of your name. and this is the only reason that you are still breathing. My master believes that you are valuable. I cannot see what he see in you, but I do not question him." Ionæ lifted his ear in a similar way as a cat would. "Your king is arriving soon. I must leave now.** Swάthµ** **Grëna!**" Ionæ incanted as Arthur came into view. The king just managed to see Ionæ disappear into a whirlwind.

"What the hell was that?" Arthur asked in a stunned tone.

**Done. **

**Till next time.**

**Bene vivant.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Well I've been gone for a while. Sorry.**

**New chapter. Enjoy.**

"What the hell was that?" Merlin cringed at the words. Arthur was looking at the scene in front of him in disgust. The Cythraul had disappeared in a whirlwind and Merlin was standing in front of the space it had previously occupied. Galahad was sitting with his back against a tree after being blown backwards by a magical blast.  
"Arthur, I can explain." Merlin started in a worried voice.  
"No let me." Came the calm voice of Galahad. "That thing is a Cythraul. It is a magical creature that is born of magic. Some of the darkest magic that can be mustered. Usually they are summoned trolls to act as companions. This particular Cythraul is called Ionæ. He was summoned by a troll that lives in Enacagh. I met them a few years ago." Galahad spat the last part like it had a bitter taste. Arthur raised his eyebrows but let Galahad continue. "Ionæ appeared here to try and kill me. Merlin managed to talk him off." Galahad gave a small smile at Merlin. The look on Arthurs face was anything but gratitude. Merlin just shrugged. Annya suddenly appeared out of nowhere and tackled Merlin with a crushing hug. Annya hadn't known why she had decided to hug the now bewildered manservant but now she could feel her cheeks flush with colour. Hastily, Annya stepped away from Merlin and looked back towards the knights. Whilst Arthur and Elyan were smirking, Obviously trying not to laugh, Leon was looking on in a fond manner. Almost like he felt of Merlin as a brother and was happy for him. And then there was Gwaine. His face was a mixture of pride and amazement.  
"I'll just…" Annya mumbled an excuse and rushed out of the group. Merlin glanced around the assembled knights sheepishly before settling his eyes on Gwaine. Gwaine smiled and gestured in the direction that Annya had disappeared off into. Merlin took off at a dead run after the princess.  
Annyas face was burning as she sat down on a fallen tree. What had possessed her to dive onto Merlin. She had just felt compelled to do so. In front of Gwaine no less. He was usually overly protective of her. Why hadn't he said anything? More importantly, why hadn't she said anything?  
"Annya? Where are you?" Annya heard Merlin call after her. She felt her heartbeat quicken at his voice. Why did that happen? It's not like she knew him very well. Or that he knew her well. But then she did know his largest secret.  
"Over here." She called from her seat on the log. Annya tried and failed to relax and could feel her heart rate quicken slightly again. Merlin raced around the corner to see Annya staring in the direction he had just arrived from. Yes, raced. And yes, she was now staring at Merlin with a similar look that she had given Galahad around the campfire. But it was less calculated, and more confused. Merlin decided to overlook this factor and smiled in his usual goofy smile. Annya subconsciously smiled back. Why was that smile so contagious? Merlin walked over to the log and sat down quite close to Annya.  
'Not close enough.' Said a small voice in her head. 'Where had that come from?' Thought Annya.  
"Annya? Are you ok?" Merlin asked from beside her. Annya suddenly realised that it had been quite a few minutes since Merlin had taken his seat next to her. The princesses face turned a deeper shade of red.  
"Yes I'm fine Merlin. I should be the one asking that though. You just had a fight with a monster. Have you been hurt?" Merlin's faced was one of bewilderment. Annyas words had all come out in the space of around 3 seconds and Merlin had not understood a single word apart from monster.  
"I beg your pardon?" Merlin asked hesitantly. Annya looked at the floor quickly and took a deep breath.  
"I was worried about you. From what I heard from Galahads story, this Cythraul is a fearsome creature. To get the better of Galahad, I mean." Annya managed to keep her speech relatively steady this time. Merlin visibly relaxed until Galahad was mentioned. The change was momentary but was noticeable.  
"Well, as you well know, I have some unique skills that as far as I can tell he doesn't have." Merlin gave a goofy smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. Annya laughed at Merlin's attempt at being subtle.  
"That is true. And do not worry. I don't think Arthur would have noticed if you used your ability anyway." Merlin laughed at this. Annya did have a point, Arthur may be the king of Camelot, but sometimes he can be more unobservant than a drunk cow. (A drunken experiment of Gwaines.)  
"So why exactly did you hug me back there?" Merlin asked suddenly.  
'Great. Just as I had stopped blushing. Quick, must think of a way to get back to the others.' Thought Annya whilst felling her cheeks heat up again. Merlin must have been equally as embarrassed as his face was also bright red.  
"I think I hear Gwaine calling us." Annya all but squeaked as she rushed off of the log they were occupying. Merlin sat for a few minutes in bewilderment before he also made his way back to the camp.  
Galahad looked down at the log where Merlin and Annya were sitting. Just after they had left, Gwaine had told Galahad to follow them. So at the present moment Galahad was up a tree, less than 4 foot away from the fallen log, enjoying an apple. He had to admit that he thought that the goofy manservant and the slightly awkward princess looked almost like a perfect match for each other. Somebody with actual experience in the field of love may have contradicted Galahads musings, but that person was not inside his head. So they couldn't. Galahad heard Merlins little attempt at subtlety and almost laughed at the ridiculousness of it. But then his words actually sunk in. Annya knew of Merlins magic. Maybe Galahads musings were no unfounded after all. For the young princess to know of such a big secret and to keep him a secret from her own older bother must mean that she felt something for the guy. Galahad looked down at the log from his perch and noticed that the duo were heading back to the campsite. Jumping down from the branch he was sat on, Galahad looked in the direction of the log and caught site of a pair of eyes staring at him through the darkness. Seconds later four bandits sprung from the bushes and ambushed Galahad. The young huntsman immediately went for his swords. When his hands reached the area that his swords were meant to be, he cussed. He had left all of his weapons at the camp except from a large hunting knife. Taking his knife out of his belt he flicked it around so the blade was facing upwards.  
"Look what we got here. A kid alone in the forest. " The obvious leader of the quartet sneered to his followers. "What are you doing here kid?" Galahad looked straight into the eyes of the leader and said nothing. Suddenly Galahad whipped around and stabbed one of the bandits that was sneaking up behind the young hunter, straight through the heart. Picking up the deceased bandits sword, Galahad turned and looked back at the lead bandit. The older mans eyes were full of shock and awe. Without giving the leader time to think, Galahad threw the sword at his head. The bandit snapped out of his stupor just in time to dodge the sword. The two remaining underlings charged at Galahad from either side. The hunter stepped towards one of the bandits and caught the hand that he was holding the sword with whilst simultaneously crunching his foot down upon his knee, promptly breaking it . Twisting the blade out of the bandits hand, Galahad then spun and plunged it into the other bandit and left it there. Taking out his own knife, Galahad then slit the incapacitated bandits throat. Tunring back to the leader who was now looking at his friends in horror, Galahad walked up to the stunned man and plunged his knife into the leaders neck. The leader fell down dead. Galahad looked at the destruction around him and picked up one of the bandits swords that was lying on the ground. It was a bright white blade with a dragon as the handle. It was identical to Merlins in every way but colour.


End file.
